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Looom

Flipbook animation reimagined








Animation playground


We’d like to show you a new way to create hand-drawn animation. So playful you’ll think it’s a toy, but it's secretly a robust app with a reimagined UI for animators and creators.









Wonderfully musical


Taking inspiration from music creation tools, using Looom feels more like playing an instrument than operating software - exploring lines, shapes and colors through loopable time and rhythm.

Watch demo videos








Everyone in the loop


Looom is all about looping animation with a smile. It was designed for professionals and beginners of any age, and is already being used by some influential indie animators.

#Madewithlooom









ortho remote!


The ortho remote, made by our friends at teenage engineering, can be used as a wireless controller for Looom! Connecting through lag-less BLE, this lovely knob will add that tactile feel to your animated workflow.

Get yours here






Fluid Time

No first frame or last. Looom’s threads are independent in length and speed, always tweakable.

Open-Ended

Looom uses SVG as it’s native file format. Your work can be viewed in browsers and opened in desktop animation software. Learn more

Infinite Canvas

Lets you go as deep or as far as you want thanks to a completely resolution-independent vector engine.



























Looom User Guide

v1.3








Basics


Frame, Thread, Weave 


Animation being a time-based art form makes fundamental use of timelines in its crafting. In Looom each layer is its own timeline which is independent in its length and speed, these layers are called threads and are represented by rotating reels. You will notice dots arranged inside the reels, these are individual frames.



Each thread has its visual appearance which consists of color and tool type, line or fill. These visual settings affect the whole thread and can always be tweaked, even while playing. You can create up to five threads in a project each with its own time and appearance identities. The sum of all these threads together is called a weave.




Thread edit


To enter Thread-edit mode press and hold one of your thread’s reel. In this mode, you can adjust the properties of the selected thread.






Thread time properties


Pause


Toggle between pause/play per selected thread.

Speed (FPS)


Set the speed of the thread. Numbers are indicating the amount of frames that will play in a second.

Add / Remove frames


Add a new blank frame ahead of the current frame or remove the current frame completely.

Play modes


Select between different play modes.
Forward
Backward
Ping-pong*
Random

* Ping-pong mode is relative, meaning it will play form your current frame and reverse on the last frame. To set Ping-pong mode to be non-relative, turn the bookmark ON on the frame you want the Ping-pong to start on.






Thread appearance properties

Line / Fill


Toggle between line drawing or fill brush. When in line draw mode, use the slider to control your line width.

Visibility


Toggle visibility on / off. Use the slider to control the current opacity.

Blend modes


Select between different Blending modes.
Alpha
Additive
Multiply
Invert


Clipping mask


Toggle on to mask the current thread by the thread below it.




Tools



Pulley


The pulley is the round dial like device that lets you navigate time in Looom. You can either swipe up/down for a solid next/previous frame or u may place your finger and start rotating to scrub through time fluidly.

Onion skin


Onion skins are used for seeing past or future frames of your animation. Choose between four modes:
  • 2 past frames
  • 2 future frames
  • one past and one future aka in-betweening
  • onion skin off

Bookmark


Toggle bookmark to continuously see a specific farme. Notice the density of lines hinting how far that frame is from your current frame.

Eraser


While the Eraser is toggled ON you can erase lines with your pencil when in thread edit mode.

Clear frame


Clear all the current frame’s content. Can be used while playing or scrubbing to clear many frames quickly.




Weave edit


To enter Weave Edit mode press and hold the lower-left corner icon. In weave edit mode u can access and adjust the hierarchy of your threads. 


Re-Order Threads


In Weave Edit mode all your reels are draggable. Simply press and drag to re-order them.


Add Thread


Adds a new thread with the same properties of the currently selected thread.


Delete Thread


While dragging the thread, notice the + button turning to an x zone. Drop the reel inside the x to delete it.

Duplicate Thread


Drag all the way to the right and release. A duplicated thread will appear above the current thread. 



*The color picker that appears in Weave edit mode controls the background color of your weave.




Settings



UI Direction


Choose between right or left-handed UI direction.


Pencil Draw


Enables drawing with Apple Pencil. In this mode, touching the canvas with your finger brings out the pulley. 


Finger Draw


In this mode, you can draw with your finger on the canvas. Instead of navigating time with the pulley you have back and forward step buttons on bottom left. To use the pulley in this mode, hold a step button and then use your finger on the canvas. 



Bluetooth LE


Use this dialogue to connect your ortho remote™





Advanced technics


Thread Transform


While in TE mode you can transform the content of the thread simply by panning, pinching, zooming with two fingers while the reel is held.

Thread Time Offset


You may also step or scrub time while in TE to offset a specific thread in time.

Multithreading


You can tap two or more reels simultaneously to make them all active allowing you to draw in all of them in parallel.

History mode


When undo or redo are held continuously, you can rotate the pulley to scrub quickly through undo history.





In-app video record


When in Weave-Edit mode, a tape-like record circle will appear next to the play button. press it to arm the recording and then hit play to start record. the UI will slide out and the recording will start. To stop the recording simply touch anywhere on the screen. An iOS video dialogue will open up with the content of your recording. Note that from iOS 13 you can trim, crop and rotate your videos very easily.




Accessing SVG project files


Files app


Navigate to your Looom folder on the iPadOS Files app to find a folder named Weaves where all your SVG project files are located. 

Cable / Wifi


Alternatively you can connect your iPad directly to a PC inorder to access your files. Connect iPad either with a cable or wifi (needs to be set up).

macOS >= Catalina
Open Finder and look for your iPad on the sidebar under Locations. In your iPad choose Files there you will find a folder named Weaves. Drag that folder to your computer to see all your SVG files.

Pre-Catalina + Windows
Access your iPad in iTunes. Locate Looom under applications and go in your Weaves folder to see all your SVG files.




Importing into Adobe Animate


You will first need your SVG files downloaded to your computer.
Find them on your iPad in the Files app, Looom/Weaves folder.
You will also need this script*.

1. Drag your SVG file into an open project in Animate.
2. Click OK, any of the settings will work the same.
3. Drag the script to the Animate window and choose ‘Run Script’.

Note that converting Looom’s files in Animate will result in a Layer per thread and a frame per drawing, Looom’s independent FPS timelines will not appear in Animate as there is no such thing there. You might need to recreate masks and blending modes as well.

*Script generously created by Xander 🙏
Mark



Demo videos